May – Wins stages four and 12 of the Giro d'Italia – his first Grand Tour triumphs.

June – Wins stage five of Ster Elektrotoer.

July – Wins stages five, eight 12 and 13 of the Tour de France.

August – Fails to win an Olympic medal in a disappointing Madison race alongside Wiggins.

Wins stages one, two and three of the Tour of Ireland.

September – Wins stages one, two and six of the Tour of Missouri, and the points jersey.

2009:

February – Wins stages four and six at the Tour of Qatar.

Wins stages four and five at Tour of California, and the sprint jersey.

March – Wins the final stage of Tirreno Adriatico.

Wins the 100th edition of Milan-San Remo.

April – Wins stages two and three (a) of the Three Days of De Panne.

May - Becomes the first Briton to wear the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia after his squad win the opening team time-trial. He also wins stages nine, 11 and 13.

June - Wins stages three and six of the Tour de Suisse to equal Chris Boardman's record for a British rider of 41 professional victories.

July - Wins six stages in all at the Tour de France, including on the Champs Elysees but misses out on the green jersey after he is docked points for barging rival Thor Hushovd of Norway.

August – Wins the Sparkasse Giro.

Wins stage two of the Tour of Ireland.

September - Wins the first two stages of the Tour of Missouri for the 50th and 51st road wins of his career.

2010:

March – Wins stage two of the Tour of Catalonia.

April - Wins stage two of the Tour of Romandie, a result he celebrates with a two-fingered salute. He later apologises but is withdrawn from the race by his team.

May – Wins stage one of the Tour of California.

July - Wins five Tour de France stages, including on the Champs Elysees for second successive time, to take his career tally to 15. However, finishes 11 points behind Alessandro Petacchi in the points classification race.

September – Wears the leader’s red jersey at the Vuelta a Espana after his team wins the opening team time trial and also becomes only the second Briton after Robert Millar to win stages in all three Grand Tours after his success on stage 12. He goes on to win three further stages and claim the points jersey.

2011:

February 20 - Opens season account with victory in sixth and final stage of Tour of Oman.

April 6 – Wins Scheldeprijs for the third time in five years.

May - Finishes second on stage two of the Giro d'Italia to take the race leader's pink jersey after HTC-Highroad won the opening team time-trial. Goes on to win stages 10 and 12.

June 10 – Awarded an MBE in Queen's Birthday Honours.

July 13 - Wins his third stage of the 2011 Tour de France in Lavaur to take the green jersey.

July 17 - Takes fourth win for fourth successive Tour de France in Montpellier to move to 19 wins in four years.

July 21/22 - Docked 20 points in successive mountain stages to see green jersey lead reduced to 15 points.

July 24 - Wins final stage in Paris to make certain of the green jersey.